Dominic Gaunt
by kyrosethorns
Summary: Harry changes his name to avoid going back to the Dursley's he ends up in a muggle orphanage Years later he is at Hogwarts and finds out that Harry Potter is still being searched for and supposedly the only person who can stop an old threat from returning
1. Chapter 1

DOMINIC GAUNT

By :kyrosethorns

SUMMARY: Left alone in London, and not wanting to go back to the Dursley's, Harry Potter changes his name and ends up in an orphanage in which he is later adopted from into a pure blood wizarding family. Now eight years later he finds himself at Hogwarts and soon realizes that 'Harry Potter' is still being searched for as an old threat is being reawakened and Harry is supposedly the only wizard alive that can save their world.

Eventually Slash DracoXHarry

NOTE: This story was posted before but because of lack of inspiration and many many spelling mistakes i took it off so now here is the revised version and I am trying this again.

Please Read and Review, your words are my inspiration

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CHAPTER ONE

A young boy, about seven, looked out the window of the car as he and the three other occupants made their way into London. It was the first time he had ever been allowed to go on a trip with his Aunt, Uncle and cousin, as they usually left him with their neighbor, Ms. Figg, but since she was currently in the hospital with a broken hip due to tripping over one of her many cats while walking down a staircase, Uncle Vernon had no choice but to take the boy along on with them on this small outing up to London, since telling his son that the trip was off would cause a much larger problem then simply taking him.

Despite the fact that he still had to spend a whole day with the family that seemed to despise him for his very existence, he was happy to be getting out and doing something that didn't involve school, chores, or listening to Ms. Figg ramble on about her cats, or 'how things used to be in her day.'

They arrived around noon at a small fancy cafe that looked as if Aunt Petunia had decorated it herself, with ghastly floral patterns and bright, supposedly happy, colours. 'Now listen here boy.' Uncle Vernon started as he tried, but failed to turn around and glare at the short scrawny boy with messy black hair and emerald eyes. 'You are to stay close by, but do not touch anything, do not speak, and you will do exactly as told. Do you understand me!'

'Yes Sir.' The boy replied in a low and obedient tone. The rather large form of Vernon turned back in his seat and got out of the car, with a slight bit of difficulty, at the same time as his son Dudley, who was also a bit on the larger size. This caused the shortest male to feel as if the car just came about a foot off the ground, his reflects caused him to put out his hands to steady himself before he too exited the car.

As the four of them entered the cafe the boy had to squint his eyes at the brightness that seemed to surround the interior since it was already beginning to make his head hurt. They sat down in a booth near the back of the cafe and within no time at all there was a young brunet waitress was there giving them all menus before asking what it was they all wished to drink. Dudley had two chocolate milkshakes, Aunt Petunia ordered tea, Uncle Vernon got a coffee, black, and as for the boy, a single glass of water. Soon after the drinks arrived they ordered lunch, Dudley and Vernon both had what seemed like a three course meal, Petunia had salad and again for the boy got the cheapest thing on the menu, bread sticks, four to be exact. When the waiter looked at them oddly because of this Uncle Vernon quickly stated that he had just gone through surgery on his stomach and was unable to eat much. The waiter seemed to except this answer and left to go retrieve their orders.

Things had been going alright so far until halfway through the meal when the boy had to use the restroom. Getting up he left and made his way across the cafe, however when he returned afterward to the table that they had been seated at was empty, Dursley's had gone. Frantic, he ran out of the cafe and looked around for the old car. When he didn't spot it right away he ran off and checked the close-by parking lots. _'They wouldn't have gone to far. They wouldn't have just left me.' _He told himself over and over in his mind as he continued his search.

When he finally came to a stop he realized he had no idea where it is he was. The place looked somewhat gloomy, rain clouds had started forming in the sky. Quickly he went into different shops and asked if they would allow him to use their phones, but they all refused him. A little further into the neighborhood he came across a shabby looking inn, '_The Leaky Cauldron'_. Although it didn't seem to appealing to the eye the boy figured they might allow him access to a phone, so he went inside.

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The first thing he noticed upon entering was that this inn seemed to be just a gloomy inside as it was outside at the moment. The walls were all made of stone and everything was lit by candlelight. There were a few people sitting randomly about the area. The boy tried to ignore the conversations that were taking place as he walked by on his way to what he assumed was the front desk at the back of the room, but he still managed to pick up a few of the sentences that were being said. 'Been nearly six years now hasn't it.' 'Has your daughter gotten all her books yet for school, I hear that they have been raising the prices on the _'Standard Book of Spells'_ again.' 'So I hear your eldest son made the national Quidditch team, congratulations.'

'Yes can I help you?' Asked an elderly looking man from behind the desk. 'Ah, yes I was wondering if I could use your phone? Please?'

'Excuse me, a what?'

'Your phone. May I use it. I got separated from my...well I'm lost.'

'I apologize but I am not sure what a _'phone'_ is.' The man looked down at the boy and noticed the strange clothing that he was wearing. 'Hold on a sec will you, I'll go get Seigfried he's a muggle-born as well, he'll know what this _phone_ is.' The man left leaving a very confused looking boy staring oddly at the directing that he had just gone in.

'Sorry for eavesdropping but did you say you were lost.' The boy turned to look at the person who was speaking to him, it was a boy, possibly only a few years older then him with dirty-blond hair.

'Yes. I am.'

'Well my guess is that you were on your way to Diagonally. I am headed there right now why don't you come along. I am sure that you will be able to find who you're looking for there. I'm Oliver by the way, Oliver Wood. And you?'

'I'm Harry but what is...' Harry didn't get to finish his sentence as Oliver had grabbed his arm and was pulling him towards the other side of the room. He was going to ask what Diagonally was but figured that it was probably the name of a certain area in London where one would go look for someone, but when Wood brought him into a small room with the only doorway being the one they just came through he was starting to think that this Oliver kid was a few sausages short of an English breakfast.

Harry was about to walk out when Oliver released his arm and told him to hold on but a slightly large woman stepped through the doorway. 'Who is this Oliver?' She asked.

'Oh this is Harry mum. He's lost, and I figured that he could probably find someone in Diagonally that may know him.' 'Good thinking Oliver. Now if you could just step aside for a moment.' She squeezed between the two boys and took a stick out of her pocket. Harry watched carefully as she tapped the bricks with it and before his eyes the bricks began to move away creating a doorway into a busy and bustling street filled with people all walking around in strange attire such as cloaks and pointed hats.

'Welcome to Diagonally.' Oliver announced as he and Harry stepped through the doorway. 'You ever been before?' Harry just shook his head. 'Well then common just stick with us for now, you'll probably run into someone eventually.' Harry doubted that he would run into anyone he knew here, as he doubted his Aunt and Uncle would ever come to a place where everything was so different from what they deemed _'normal'_, Harry didn't say anything though as he walked along next to the other boy into a large building called Gringotts, which apparently was a bank.

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Once inside Harry had to refrain himself from staring at those seating behind the desks, which in his mind could be none other than goblins. They walked down the long marble hall and to the last teller. Mrs. Wood approached the goblin and handed him two small golden keys. 'Vaults 348 and 712.' She said. The goblin got down and moved around the desk. 'Harry, do know what vault is yours?'

'No, can't say I do. I didn't realize I had one.'

'You don't got one.' Oliver said sounding astonished. 'How is that. Everyone has one. Where do you keep your money?' Harry looked down at the floor and stared at the pattern in the marble. He felt somewhat embarrassed that he didn't have any money of his own. Then again he was only 7. 'Well then.' The goblin started. 'If you wish to open an account then you will have to go the accounting room. Follow me.' Harry really didn't know what to do. This place was so strange to him it almost seemed like some sort of weird dream. Convinced of that Harry figured it wouldn't hurt to just go along with it so he followed the goblin into the accounting room, which looked the same as the rest of the building as of thus far.

The goblin that lead him there left with the Woods who told him that they would be back as soon as they took out enough for school supplies. Now he was faced with a different goblin that looked very similar to the previous one but seemed a little more aged. 'Well then, you want to open an account then.' The old goblin said as he looked through his small glasses at Harry. 'Here.' He gave the boy a knife.

'What am I supposed to do with this?' He asked staring at the knife as if he had no idea what it even was.

'Cut across the palm of your hand and place your hand over the bowl so that the blood will drip in.' Thinking nothing wrong of this, since it was a dream, he did as told and as the blade cut his hand open. He was shocked to realize that this was actually happening as a slight pain shot through his hand causing him to wince ever so slightly. He did as told however and held his hand over the bowl and watched as the blood fell from his hand onto a piece of parchment inside, and watched as the blood disappeared and was replaced on the paper with writing. When he pulled his hand back and looked at it Harry was surprised to see that the cut was gone, not even a mark was left on his hand to show it had been damaged.

Meanwhile the goblin held the parchment in front of him. 'So. You are Harry Potter then. It seems you already have an account. One left to you by a James and Lily Potter. Vault 687. Well then Mr. Potter would you like to take out some of your funds?' Harry was beside himself. He actually had money of his own. Money that his Uncle and Aunt didn't even know about or surly there wouldn't be anything in there.

The old goblin gave him a key and told Harry to go out to the front desks and talk to one of the goblins out there. Harry did so and soon found himself being quickly carried through underground tunnels at high speed and then just as quickly coming to a stop. 'Vault 687.' The goblin said as he stepped off the cart, Harry followed slightly wobbly behind him. The goblin took his key from him and opened up the vault.

Harry looked in and his eyes grew wide. Never in his life had he ever see this much gold, silver and bronze. He had never even thought that he would even own a small amount of money and now standing here in front of _his_ vault with _his_ money inside it was the happiest day that he could recall. Then a thought hit him. It was all gold, silver and bronze, that wasn't money. 'Are-are you sure that this is money?'

'Why of course it is.' The goblin looked at his strangely. 'Now, how much do you want to take out. Or would you just prefer to acquire a bottomless money bag.'

'A bottomless moneybag? What is that?' Harry saw the slightly annoyed look on the goblin's face and muttered an apology before the goblin explained. 'A bottomless moneybag is a bag that in linked to your vault. And will recognize your magical signature as the owner of the vault and will allow you to take out however much you need as long as you have the funds in the vault.' Thinking that that would be the best idea he asked for the bag and slipping it into his pocket he got back on the cart with the goblin and returned upstairs to ground level where he saw Mrs. Wood and Oliver awaiting him.

'So did you manage to get an account for yourself.' Mrs. Wood asked as they left Gringotts.

'Yes I did.' Harry replied.

'I say we go and check out Quality Quidditch Supplies first and then-'

'No Oliver.' His mother cut in. 'First we collect what you need for school. Then if there is still time you can take a look around Quality Quidditch Supplies.'

'But mum. They is a display the new brooms, some of the fastest ever made, and I must go-'

'Oh it will still be there later Oliver.' She whacked him up side his head. Slightly disappointed Oliver did as his mum wanted, Harry still trailed behind figuring that he mine-as-well stay with them for now since they seemed like nice people and he still had many questions about everything. The small trio walked around Diagonally collecting an assortment of books and other supplies that Oliver needed, some of which seemed odd to Harry, such as quills and rolls of parchment instead of pencils, pens and notebooks. Along with these he also seemed to have to acquire robes to wear and a wand, which were bought while Harry was sitting down out outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, reading some of Oliver's school books, since he had to wait anyway for the robes to be fitted to Oliver. After that they picked up a cauldron and an owl, which was the strangest things of all to need for school in Harry's opinion.

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Harry asked many questions about this and that as they entered the different store, such as; 'What is a Muggle?' 'How does one go about learning magic?' And; 'What is Quidditch?' Which was the only question, which Oliver seemed to be excited to explain about it to Harry. '...And at Hogwarts, that is the school I'll be attending come September, the students are split into four houses in which each have their own Quidditch team. I personally think that being on the Slytherin, one of the houses, would be the best since they have the best team at Hogwarts. A long record of wins for five straight years, not to say that the other teams aren't good. It's just that Slytherin has the best there...' Oliver had given a copy of _'Quidditch Throughout the Ages' _to Harry as he explained it so that he would have a better idea of what Quidditch was.

It was getting late when they got out of Quality Quidditch Supplies and the Wood's had to leave. 'Will you be alright Harry. I'm so sorry that we didn't seem to find anyone who knew you.'

'It's alright. I'm sure they'll eventually show.' Though inside Harry was beginning to worry as reality was sinking in slowly. The Dursleys had left him. Probably happy they had lost him as well. And now he didn't have anywhere to go to. Nothing at all.

'Well in any case you should probably go back and wait in the Leaky Cauldron for them. Do you need help getting back?

'No it's alright I'll find it easy enough.' Mrs. Wood accepted this and she and Oliver went on their way as Harry headed back to the inn. Once there he left through the front door and into a wet and dark alleyway of London. He thought that he could go back into the inn and stay there till morning, but he really didn't feel like it, as he still didn't know much about magic and wizards and didn't want to spend a night with them. So he wandered off looking hopefully for someone that could possibly help him.

It was nearly 10 at night when Harry came across someone who could help. It was a police officer who was heading back to the station at the end of his rounds. He stopped at the curb and got out of the car. 'Hey kid. What are you doing out so late, and alone?' He asked Harry stopped and looked at the man.

Seeing that it was an officer he answered back. 'I-I don't know. I really don't have anywhere that I can go.'

'What's your name?' Harry opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it. If he told this man his name he might bring him back to the Dursley's and at the moment he really didn't want to go back there, so he looked up at the man remembering a surname from one of the books in the shop that Oliver was in and he quickly created a new first name. 'I am Dominic Gaunt.' The officer asked him to get into the car and he'd bring him back to the station to do a search for Dominic. Knowing that there really wasn't much he could do Harry went along with the officer and soon he found himself sitting in the man's office chair spinning around as he drank a cup of hot chocolate while the man was off making a phone call.

When he had earlier looked up the name Dominic Gaunt to find out where he lived nothing showed up, not that Harry was surprised by this he knew that nothing would, but the officer had asked him about where he lived and so on so Harry just made up a bogus story about living in an alley and then his parents leaving him three days ago and haven't come back. The three times to large dirty clothing that he was currently wearing reinforced the story even more, and now the officer was returning with the result of the phone call. He knelt down beside Dominic and placed a hand on his shoulder. 'I know that you might not want this, but it is better then nothing. A shelter and food at the very least. I have called up the local orphanage and they have asked for me to take you there. Though you probably won't be there long. The younger the kids the faster they usually get adopted and then you will have a nice home and a good family that will care for you. Doesn't that sound nice?' It did sound nice, but hardly believable in Harry's eyes, then again if someone had told him this morning that there was such thing a witches and wizards, and that he had a vault full of gold to himself sitting just underneath London and that after that day he wouldn't have to be with the Dursleys anymore, he would have thought that that was unbelievable and had call the person crazy. Now here he stood at the start of what could be a new and very interesting life.

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The first month at the orphanage when alright for 'Dominic' as each and every kid there was in a similar situation as him, and although there were a few who thought that they could bully others around, he didn't let those people get to him. He had wished that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had just sent him to an orphanage when he had arrived at their place all those years ago. He also found out that there was a school in which he would be attending in a few weeks time as it was now the middle of August, vaguely Harry wondered if he would need robes and a cauldron at this school as Oliver did at his own but pushed the thought aside and laughed at his own thoughts. Of course he wouldn't need those things. This is the same sort of school as he attended before, a Muggle, or non-magic persons, school.

Another thing that he enjoyed about being here was that every other day they would be aloud to go out around London, granted that they had to be supervised, but he was able to sneak away and make it to Diagonally where he purchased a number of books and other small magical items that he safely hid away under a loose floorboard in the boys-room closet. Sure he got in trouble for having wandered off and wasn't going to be allowed off the property for about a week and he had to scrub the floors, among other chores, during that time but he didn't mind as he was used to this sort of work. And during the time when no one was around he'd sneak his books out, as Oliver had said that it was forbidden for underage witches and wizards to use magic in the 'Muggle World', and he would read them as much as possible trying his best to retain as much knowledge from them as possible.

The next few weeks passed by quickly and soon enough school was starting. Harry was excited for this as he didn't have to dumb himself down so that Dudley's grades would be higher then his. He could actually show now that he had a brain inside his skull and that he knew how to use it. Not only that, each grade had a class pet and his grade's was that of a brown and gray snake, whom was called Monty. Harry found the snake to be very interesting and when the teacher wasn't giving a lesson he found his gaze drifting over to the tank and watching Monty go about what ever it was that snakes did.

Nearing the end of the month Harry received a detention for throwing a pencil at another student that hit her in the head, though Harry didn't mean for it to go flying he was just trying to make it levitate ever so slightly off his desk it just didn't work out the way he had planed, and now he had to stay inside at recess and clean the classroom. He didn't mind it too much but he did wish he could have gone outside to some empty part of the schoolyard to practice. One of the books he had found was a basic book for wandless magic, which he was very happy about since it would be somewhat harder to hide the fact that he was doing magic if he was waving around a wand every time he practiced. But practice could always wait till tomorrow it wasn't as if he was going anywhere anytime soon so he just continued to sweep the floor of the class.

While doing so he back into something; 'Sorry.' was his automatic response although he knew he was the only one in the room, so to say that he was shocked when a reply of, 'Don't worry, that's alright.' came his way was an understatement. Harry turned around quickly and looked to what he had bumped into, it was Monty's tank, and there was the snake looking at him with curious eyes. 'Did you just talk?' He felt stupid asking an animal that question, and when he didn't get an answer he felt worse. Harry turned back to his work and then the answer came.

'Well yes of course I did. The curious thing here is that you can talk to, and understand me.' He looked slowly at Monty once more, confusion written all over his face. _'How is this even possible?' _Though dispute his thoughts on possible or not he smiled at the snake, this was cool non-the-less. He spent his time cleaning that day talking to Monty. And over the next while he'd ask if he could stay in, to do work or clean, whenever he could as he found that the pet snake seemed to have more interesting things to say then the other students in his class did.

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Things were going fine till around mid-November when Calvin, the 'bully's' punching bag, got adopted and therefore the resident bully turned his attention to the lonely and strange Dominic. At first it wasn't so bad, Harry had dealt with Dudley's bulling for the majority of his life, but when the verbal abuse turned physical Ms. Mason, the overseer of the orphanage, steeped in and tried to deal with it. And her way of dealing with the problem was to go after the easier issue.

She took Dominic into her office and told him that if he wanted to bullies to stop then he had to not give them a reason to pick on him as if it was Harry's fault. She told him to be more social with the others and not always go off somewhere alone just reading all the time. Ms. Mason also gave him some concealer from her purse and told him that he could use that to cover up his scar, which Harry thought was stupid. If these kids were going to make fun of him because of a scar they would surly beat him for wearing make-up. If he had been a girl that would not have been a problem, but he was not, so he refused the concealer. Ms. Mason didn't except that and told him just to listen to her and use it for a little while, and if the bulling didn't subside then he didn't have to use it afterward. He reluctantly agreed to it and left her office just as the other kids were being called in.

Within the next week the bulling did stop, though Harry doubted that it was because of Ms. Mason's advise as the main bully had been adopted and his lackeys didn't have the guts to do anything without him there, as for the cover-up Harry continued to use if only to keep Ms. Mason off his back. And so from then he got back into normal routine. He'd wake slightly earlier then the other kids to clean up and apply the concealer, by then others would be up and he'd head down to breakfast. If it were a weekday he'd then head off to school where he would listen during lessons quietly and then go off on his own till the day was through. Then he'd return back to the orphanage and take one of his magic books out and find a quiet place to read. If it was the weekend he'd just be by himself all day, it came to a point that some people completely forgot that he was there and on the rare occasions when he was around more often they would ask him why families kept returning him, Harry would ignore this however and go about his business.

This routine lasted a little more then a year and a rather stormy day in October a couple came into the orphanage. Harry watched these people and he felt that there was odd sort of welcoming feeling coming from them. A sense of familiarity washed over him and for the first time he was interested in the people who has came into adopt a child. He wanted these people to be his new parents. As if they could read his mind, both of them turned to look at Harry. 'Hello there.' The woman said as she offered out her hand to the boy. 'What would your name be?' Harry took her hand and smiled, as warmth seemed to emitted from her hand.

'I'm Dominic. Dominic Gaunt.' The woman smiled back and shook his hand. There was a tingling feeling that moved from his hand up his arm and a knowing look in the woman's eyes. The spent the next few hours talking as Ms. Mason did a check up on them to make sure they had no criminal record and so on. Before Harry could believe it he had his backpack in his hand with all his wizarding books inside and he was going to be heading home. As they left the orphanage the storm started to fade and through a small break in the clouds he saw a stream of light peeking through. Harry felt as if this was the first time he had seen the sunlight in a long time.

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	2. Chapter 2

NOTE: I know I forgot this on the last chapter cause it seems redundant, but here it is the disclaimer. "I do not and never will own Harry Potter

Please Read and Review

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CHAPTER TWO

Dominic had been surprised when his new parents, the Yorsons, lead him through the Leaky Cauldron and then into Diagonally. He had remembered Oliver telling him a year ago that Muggles weren't able to see the Leaky Cauldron so it excited Dominic that they were there. That meant that the family that had adopted him were magical and he couldn't wait to find out where he would live and what he would learn.

He was expecting that they were going to the shops and that maybe he would be attending a wizarding school, but instead they went to Gringotts, the wizards bank. That didn't discourage Dominic though as he figured that they would need to take out some money, he was about to say that he had some money of his own but then found himself being lead into the accounting room that he had been in before when he came here with the Woods. It turned out that his parents wanted to open an account for him that was connected to their own family.

After that was all through they headed out of Diagonally and into a rather polished looking building which contained a number of little tables all with different objects on them. Above each table was a sign that read the names of different cities and towns. They went almost to the end of the hall as Dominic watched in fascination as groups of people all stood around the different objects and grabbing hold of them before swirling off and disappearing into thin air. 'Have you ever traveled using a port-key before.' Asked Mrs. Yorson as they approached a table with what appeared to be an ruby vase.

Dominic replied with a curious, 'No, what is a port-key?'

'A port-key is an object that has been spelled with a per-determined destination and time. It is one of the many ways that we are able to travel without worry of being spotted by the Muggles.' This seemed to make sense so when the man in the navy blue robes that had been standing next to their table announced that it would be leaving in thirty seconds Dominic quickly reached out his hand to grab hold of part of the vase.

When thirty seconds were up he felt himself spinning rapidly through the air feeling as though his grip was going to slip from the vase, but before no-time-at-all they had stopped on a hill over looking a small city. Dominic wobbled a bit before he tripped and had to be steadied by his new father. They stepped away from where they had landed and the man in blue disappeared once more with the vase. 'Welcome home, I am sure you'll find it pleasant here.' His mother said as the three of them walked down the hill to a stone paved street. Following it they came to a large three-story house that lay in the center of an elaborately decorated lawn and a gray stone-fence that surrounded the property. Dominic had never in his life seen a house this big and nice before. Upon entering Mrs. Yorson called out for someone, and when he came Dominic looked at him with a curious expression. The creature was in no way human. He was very short, with long floppy bat-like ears, and large tennis ball size blue eyes. 'This is Issac.' She said. 'He is our house elf. If there is anything you need tell him and he will be more then happy to get it for you. And if he refuses simple tell me and I will fix that.' She grinned at Issac who seemed to shake slightly under her gaze. 'Now then. He shall show you to your new room and you may place your bag there. Afterward he will give you a tour around the house.' The Yorsons then left to do what ever it was they need to do leaving Dominic alone with the house elf.

By the time dinner came along Dominic had only been able to see the south-wing of the house and was exhausted from all the walking, but that didn't bring him down, and when he entered the dinning room he didn't even care that his legs were sore as great amounts of delightful smelling food on gold and silver plates covered the table. There was little talking at the table as Dominic made sure that he tried at least a little of everything that was in front of him. Once dinner was finished Issac lead him back to his room where he would get cleaned up and relax before heading off to bed in his new queen size bed, which in his mind was like sleeping on a cloud.

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The next few months went by smoothly as Dominic got adjusted to his new life with the Yorsons. Life here was quite different from what he had been used to and more then he had expected when he was first told by his new parents that he would be living as a proper wizard should. He knew, of course, that things would be different, he was not stupid after all, but he didn't think that he would be home-schooled to learn how to use magic along with the knowledge that one needs to know here in the wizarding world, he had thought that he would be going to a wizarding school as the other kid he had meet in the Leaky Cauldron that day over a year and a half ago.

Though despite how obviously different this place was to how he used to live he still woke up, when in that half-wake, half-sleep haze, believing that all that had happened was a dream, and that once he opened his eyes he'd be back at the orphanage, or even in the cupboard underneath the staircase at the Dursley's. Then as the sleepy haze drifted away he would feel the warm and soft bedding around him and a smile would grace his face as he opened his eyes and would confirm that, no, this wasn't a dream he was a wizard, he had been adopted and life was only getting better for him with each passing week.

Gazing over at the clock on the wall just above his dresser he saw that he still had another ten minuets till he had to get up, so he pulled the covers over his head and closed his eyes once more so that he could get in those few extra minutes of sleep. When the clock hit exactly seven fifteen there was a knock on the door followed by the sound of a slightly high and raspy voice. "Master Dominic, it is time that you awake." It was Issac. Although Dominic had been here for a few months already he still got lost at times as the house was quite large, because of this the house elf had been assigned to escort the boy around when ever he needed it. This was helpful for more then just getting to the correct rooms, but Issac also made sure that Dominic was where he had to be on time as, although the Yorsons where nice people, they were also strict and preferred things to be routine and in order.

Once dressed Dominic followed the house elf to the dinning room where his parents were awaiting him. He sat down at his usual spot as the food materialize on the plates in front of him. Half-way through the meal Dominic's mother, Hilda, spoke up. 'Around lunch we will be having a few guests over. Not many, two really. It is my older brother's birthday, I've told you about him, Severus, he is whom we have named your godfather.' Dominic did remember this, she had mentioned wanting to have him visit during the Yule holiday last month to meet Dominic, but he had declined. He wondered if his uncle/godfather would be as nice as Hilda. "We are so lucky that his birthday falls in on the weekend this year, I haven't been able to see my dear brother in so long.'

'Though, Dominic, you are to finish the work your tutor gave you before you join us later on in the sun-room.' Raphael, his father, said as he finished eating and got up to move to his own study to finish some work that needed to be done for Monday.

'Quite right. Now finish eating and get going. Oh, and remember to wear something nice when you come to meet us.' She left as well leaving Dominic to finish alone, with the exception on Issac who stood quietly in the corner of the room. It wasn't much longer when Dominic finished, and followed Issac, heading off to do his work.

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It was a little after lunch when Dominic had finished everything that had been left for him to do. He then headed up to his room to put all of his books away before going down to the sun-room to meet up with his parents and their guests. Upon entering no one seemed to notice that someone had come into the room giving Dominic a chance to get a good look at their guest with out appearing to be staring at them. One of them, the one sitting closest to where the door is, from what he could see had pale skin and long pale blond hair. The other, who he presumed was his uncle as he bore similar features as his adoptive mother such as pale skin and deep black eyes, though the man's black hair was shoulder-length and seemed like it was somewhat greasy, very unlike Hilda's that was long and similar to silk. 'Dominic, nice to see you have finally come to join us.' Hilda said getting up and approaching Dominic once she finally spotted him. She brought him forwards and called their guests attention to her. 'Severus, Lucius. This is Dominic Gaunt, my new son. Dominic, Severus is my brother, your godfather, and Lucius is an old family friend' She said this with a smile as both pairs of dark eyes from their guests were on the child, who fidgeted slightly under their gazes.

'Well, well. A new son. So are you sure that he is pure blood.' Lucius asked, his gray eyes fixed on the boy.

'Well of course he's pure blood.' Hilda said sounding slightly insulted.

'Gaunt is a pure blood name, is it not?'

'Yes.' Lucius replied in a scrutinizing tone. 'It is.' Hilda smiled and hugged Dominic's shoulders, the others simply continued to stare trusting that Raphael had enough sense to fully look into whether or not Dominic was a pure blood.

During the next few hours Lucius seemed to entertain himself with a series of questions directed at concerning how much the boy knows and was impressed to find that, despite the fact that he grew up around muggles, Dominic still knew quite a bit for his age. Dinner soon followed, which held little chatter from anyone aside form Hilda. Afterward, Dominic headed up to his room to do as he pleased before going to bed as the adults finished off the night with their own conversations.

* * *

**Thank You **


	3. Chapter 3

Remember to Review after you read. :)

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CHAPTER THREE

Dominic had seen very little of Severus since the man's birthday back in January and now as the end of summer was coming quickly the dark-haired child thought that it was strange that he was to be spending a weekend with his uncle when he barely knew the man. Sighing he watched as Issac, the house elf, packed his things. Dominic was more then glad that he had long since found away to keep the cover-up, that was hiding the lightning shaped scar on his forehead, permanently stuck there so that he didn't have to worry about having to bring the make-up everywhere he went.

Once all his bags were packed he followed Issac down the hallways to the sun-room where a fire blazed brightly in the fireplace along the far wall. Despite having lived with the Yorsons for nearing a year Dominic has never traveled with floo powder, even though he had seen others do many time he was a little nervous about being engulfed in flames. 'Hurry up Dominic.' Said Hilda as she stood next to the fire place, her own bags beside her. 'Severus refuses to have his own fireplace hooked up to the floo network so once we go through we are still going to have a little ways to go by walking in order to get there and he doesn't like people being late. Nether do I for that matter' She muttered the last part under her breath. 'Come on now.' Dominic reached the fireplace and watched as his father went through to await him on the other side. He then repeated what his father had said and mimicked the same motion of tossing the powder into the fire and getting carried off by the flames.

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Dominic didn't know what to expect of his godfather's home, but as he walked along Spinner's End and looked around at all the deserted stone houses that looked as if no one has lived around here for decades he had the odd feeling that they had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Noticing her child's look of question Hilda gripped his shoulder lightly. 'I know it doesn't look like much.' She said in a loving note. 'My brother never really did like living in large homes, or around many people for that matter, but his home is still comfortable if not a little small.' Dominic still felt strange as we walked along side his parents towards the end of the street. His worries about being on the wrong street were proven incorrect as they climbed up the stairs of the last house and a familiar man with greasy black hair answered their knocks on his door. 'Thank you for allowing Dominic to stay here for a little bit Severus. We do appreciate it.'

'Of course' His voice was as toneless as ever as he stepped aside to allow his godson inside.

'Sorry we can't stay, but we need to get going.' She switched her attention to her son. 'I'll see you in a few days.' She kissed his forehead and they left. Severus shut the door and ushered Dominic in further.

'You will be sleeping downstairs with my other godson, who's parents are,' He paused for only a second. 'busy.' That was all he said as he lead the way into a newly refurnished basement. It was a nice room, large with stone walls. Two single beds were set up in the room, a boy with short blond hair and a slightly pointed face sat, leaning back, on one of the beds flipping through one of the many book that surrounded him. 'Draco.' Severus said calling the boy to look up at them. 'This here is Dominic, please do not make to much noise while you are here.' He then left the boys to introduce themselves further to each other.

At first the two just looked else where till the silence became to unnerving. 'So.' Draco spoke up. 'You're Dominic Gaunt are you.' He said more as a statement then a question, but Dominic answered anyway.

'Yes. Is that a problem?'

'No, I heard about you from my father, he says that he doesn't believe you are truly a pure-blood.' A smug look appeared on Draco's face.

'And your father is, who?' The blond boy seemed surprised that Dominic was unaware of who his father was. 'Lucius Malfoy.' Dominic mouth and 'oh' as he recalled the blond man from his uncles birthday some seven months previous. 'Well, as my mother had told him then, I am.' Though Dominic himself knew his mother's words to be a lie despite her thinking that he was a pure-blooded wizard. Silence over took the two eleven year-old boys once more not knowing what to talk about. Deciding that there was no point in letting his belonging just sit in his trunk in the middle of the room Dominic dragged it over to the empty bed and began to unpack what he brought. Draco craned his head slightly to take a look at what Dominic was unpacking. 'Will you be attending school in the September as well.' Draco asked as he spotted the textbooks that Dominic was placing on his bed.

'No, I'm home schooled. Though I'm taught the same things, if not more as lessons most likely go by faster.'

'I was home schooled, but as I am of age to go to school my parents think that it would be the best thing to do, you know to make contacts with others and such.' He gestured in an all around motion signaling et-cetera.

'Which school are you attending?' Dominic asked as he shoved his trunk underneath his temporary bed.

'Hogwarts, though my father would prefer I go else where, such as Durmstrang. Beside Snape is a professor there, he is also the head of the Slytherin house, which I will be in once there.' A vague memory passed through Dominic's head of someone, a kid, talking about Hogwarts and Slytherin but he couldn't place exactly where.

'So do they tell you in advance then what house you'll be in?'

'No, but I had better be in Slytherin or else.' There was a simmer of something in Draco's light gray eyes that Dominic couldn't quite place as the blond had said 'or else' though deciding not to worry about it he stacked all his books on the bedside table and sat on the bed. In a similar position to Draco as the two boys began talk about whatever came to their minds.

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After dinner Severus went out for something leaving the two preteens alone in his home together. Neither having been there before decided to take this time to explore the house, and after searching through every room they concluded that the place was a bit of a bore. This conclusion didn't last long though as the were peering at Severus' bookshelves and found a switch behind one of the rather larger and dusty book. Dominic flicked the switch and stepped back. The bookshelf in front of him come out slightly before moving to the side revealing a hidden staircase. 'So much for being boring.' Draco said as he moved in front of Dominic and walked up the stone stairs, Dominic following just behind him. There was only one room at the top of the stairs, and from the looks of it, it was a small potions lab. Along one wall sheaves were stocked full of ingredients. Another had an assortment of book, which were assumed to were potion instructions, the shelves of a third wall was full of finished potions that crowed one another as space was limited. And finally in the center of the room was a wooded table with a fairly large cauldron on top of it, a orange mist escaping from the top and flooding over the side ever so slightly. 'Wonder what's in there.' Draco said as he approached the table and looking at the contents inside the cauldron. A thick yellowy-orange mixture was bubbling inside and Draco stepped back as quickly as he approached when a bubble inside popped emitting a foul smell similar to that of rotting vegetables. A book lay opened beside the cauldron, examining it Draco found that the potion being made was one that was supposed to replenish blood.

As Draco looked through the book Dominic was looking at the different finished potions on the wall, picking some of them up and reading the labels. 'What are you two doing on here?' Came an low toned voice from the stairs. Dominic spun around quickly, surprised by the voice, his motion causing a few of the potions on the higher shelves fell. Severus attempted to grab the boy and pull him aside but wasn't fast enough. A thick colour filled smoke filled the room. Dominic's vision began to blur and he felt himself falling but couldn't get his body to move quick enough to brace himself before hitting the ground, passing out.

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When Dominic regained consciousness he found himself staring in up at a stone ceiling, momentarily forgetting where he was he shot up and regretted it immediately as a wave of nausea washed over him. 'Well look who's up.' Dominic looked to the right of him and saw Draco smirking at him, his gray eyes dancing. 'Brown hair suits you.' He said causally, but this simple statement made Dominic jump to his feet, ignoring the nausea, moving quickly to the mirror on the other side the room. Sure enough his hair was indeed brown, and not a dark brown either, it was a light almost caramel brown. Dominic's jaw dropped as he stared at his reflecting, his hair wasn't the only difference to his features either. A large scar ran down the side of his face from his eyebrow down to his chin. 'Snape's not fixing that by the way.' Draco said as he came up behind the other and purposely dragged one of his quills lightly down the scar.

'Ow.' Dominic stepped back from the blond with a look of annoyance on his face. 'What was that for?' Draco just shrugged and smirked at the currently brunet boy. 'He also won't turn your hair back to normal. Said it isn't life threatening and you deserved it as a reminder not to go wandering around where you don't belong.'

'You were there too.' Dominic retorted.

'That is why I am stuck down here, as are you. He placed a lock charm on the door preventing it from being opened from this side.'

'So I get a double punishment.' He said in a irritated tone. Draco didn't reply and just went back to the book he was reading. Dominic brought a hand up to the long scar and grimaced when he felt the rough nature of it. _'This is not going to be as easy to cover up as the other one was.' _He thought to himself before returning back to his own bed and to lay down to rid himself of the remaining nausea.

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His nausea had gone away by the next morning and was glad to see that his hair was darkening and hoped that it would return to its jet black before his mother came to get him in a few days. The scar, on the other hand, was not fading and almost seemed as if it was getting worse if the amount of bruising had anything to say about it.

Throughout that day, as Draco and Dominic were still being contained in the basement due to their exploration the previous day, they got to know each other quite well. They talked of their home, family, accomplishments in their learning, and so on.

Lunch, dinner, then bed. The day had gone by rather quickly despite having to stay in the basement the whole time. Meals had been brought down to them and the two simply chatted about everything and anything throughout the course of the day. The next day passed by in a similar fashion and Dominic woke to, once again, his hair gaining back its original colour and the scar seeming worse then the day previous. By the end of the day Severus had given Dominic a potion that would help the scar heal, though not enough of it to heal all the way and a long pale pink line still connected his eyebrow to his chin.

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It was two days after Dominic's hair had returned to its original colour that Hilda and Raphael came to pick him up from Severus'. 'Did you enjoy yourself dear?' Hilda asked as they walked back up Spinner's End.

'It was alright.' He replied, glad that he looked relativity like he did when he was dropped off a week ago.

'Ah, wonderful.' She said gleefully. 'And you got along with Lucius' son alright, Draco, I believe.' Dominic didn't really care for the little interrogation of his time away, but answered obediently anyway.

'Yes, he was amusing to say the least.' She smiled and was still doing so when they reached the fireplace, inside of an old building on at the end of the street that they had come from, and returned home.

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	4. Chapter 4

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CHAPTER FOUR

Dominic was quite pleased when he got home that day, his parents had been able to get permission for him to practice magic away from a formal school as he was being home-schooled instead, and because of this today he had gotten his wand along with a Nimbus 2001 broomstick for his 12th birthday, it wasn't even on the market yet.

He placed his broom carefully against the wall next to his bed before fishing his text books form the book shelf and began the rest of his summer homework, Draco would be coming over for a few days before going back to school and Dominic didn't want to have to worry about his work while the other boy was over. It had been a year since seeing the boy but through letters they managed to keep in touch and the last letter from the blond boy mentioned something interesting that Draco wanted to talk to Dominic about.

When the blond boy arrived Issac took Draco's trunk up to a spare guest room as the two headed up to Dominic's room. 'Nice broom.' Draco said as he spotted the Nimbus 2001 against the wall. 'Of course I have one of my own. It's coming once I'm back at school, I'm going to be on the Slytherin Quidditch team.' Dominic gave Draco a curious look as he tried to remember all he had learned years ago about Quidditch from the boy in Diagonally. 'It is a game.' Draco said smugly. 'I know I was just thinking about... - never mind.' He waved it off.

'So hows Hogwarts?'

'Alright I guess. If you like mud-bloods.' He sneered.

'What's a 'mud-blood'?' Draco just looked at his companion with an odd expression on his face.

'Those who have magic, but are born of two muggles. They are an abomination and should never be allowed to step foot anywhere true wizards, pure-bloods, might go.' Draco laced every word with more malice then the last. His light gray eyes turning darker and more like his fathers. Dominic didn't know what to think of this. He himself had grown up around muggles, his aunt was certainly muggle. Not knowing really anything about his real parents Dominic couldn't help but wonder, was he a mud-blood. He didn't share his thought with his friend however as Draco had now put aside the thoughts on mud-bloods and was examining Dominic's room.

'I think mine is bigger.' He said as he looked over nearly ever square inch of the room. 'Doesn't really matter though. So then how about we take your new broom for a ride.' Dominic agreed with Draco's suggestion to take the Nimbus 2001 out, but was a little put out when they had been outside for nearly half an hour and Draco was still in the air, and before Dominic could even get to ride it and with the dark clouds rolling in above them promising hard rain it looked like he wouldn't get much of a chance today.

It was while he was examining the sky that Draco, unknown to Dominic, landed beside the dark-haired boy and held out the broom. Half startled Dominic looked up at the blond. 'It works quite well. I think it will do just fine for the Slytherin team once they come in. You take a turn before the storm comes.' Dominic nodded and grabbed the broom. He hadn't been out flying much but recalled what his tutor had said before about it and soon he was off and soaring, keeping an eye on Draco and watching as he got smaller and smaller till he just looked like a golden dot on a field of emerald.

Unfortunately Dominic was only in the air for ten minutes when he felt drops of water hitting his head and leaving strikes of water on his glasses. He flew down and landed on the ground as gracefully as Draco had done before and the two headed into the house so as not to get caught in the rain, and as it was nearing supper.

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A large portion of the next day was spent in Diagonally, as Dominic wanted to get a few more spell-books along with some extra potion ingredients as the cupboard at the house had run low from his father's experimenting, trying to find new, better, and quicker working potions. As they walked along the crowed street of Diagonally Dominic came to a stop in front of one of the stores that had a large number of people crowding around it. 'Quality Quidditch Supplies, uhn, good idea, I could use a good set of supplies.' Draco said and began to push himself through the crowd, pulling Dominic along with him. When they approached the door Draco shoved the last of those around the building out of the way.

'Ow, watch it will you.' Draco and Dominic turned to look at the person who had just spoken. Draco smirked when he spotted the red topped freckled face.

'Shove it Weasley, what are you even doing around here.' His smirk grew wider. 'It is not as if you could even afford the cheapest thing in here, even if you were to sell off your house.'

'Shut it Malfoy.' The freckled boy retorted reaching into his pocket. Two hands gripped the red-heads shoulders and two twin reds came into view.

'Come on Ron' Said the one on the left.

'This prat isn't worth it.' Said the other and the three left.

'Good riddance to pathetic people.' Draco said to Dominic before they continued their way into the shop, Dominic only looking back for only a second at the three red heads as they turned a corner.

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By the end of the day the boys were exhausted and headed nearly straight to sleep after supper. Dominic however didn't have get any restful sleep as images kept flashing through his mind of a woman he had never meet, along with something that he heard at Diagonally earlier that day that had struck accord with him and couldn't seem get it out of mind. _'He's missing. The Boy-Who-Lived has not yet returned to the wizarding world as he was supposed to at the beginning of last year, it was the year he would have turned eleven was it not.' 'It doesn't seem as if anyone even knows where he's at either.'_ Dominic didn't know what to make of these statements and tried not to dwell on them.

Dominic was glad to have had Draco over for the last few days, but now as the first of September was only two days away and Draco would have to be going back to Hogwarts, he left the Yorsons household waving good bye to his companion and telling him that he would write. Vaguely Dominic wondered why he couldn't attended a wizarding school, and more importantly, whether or not he would see Draco next summer or not, he liked having the blond around as he was the only person that Dominic had meet that was his own age in a long time.

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THREE YEARS LATER

Dominic sat a top the manors roof, his new firebolt lay beside him as he watched the clouds move around forming different shapes. He sighed loudly, it was a week till his fifteenth birthday, but he couldn't enjoy it as his mind was filled with other thoughts, such as the constant arguments between his parents, the problems his father has been having at the ministry, and the lack of communication over the last year and a half from his only real friend, or so he thought was his friend.

Lifting his hand to the scar that ran down the side of his face as he often found himself doing when thinking about the blond. Getting up Dominic reached for his broom and took off deciding to clear his mind in the clouds the literal way, aside from just looking at them.

He felt so much more relaxed up in the sky, strange enough he has always felt more at home flying then on the ground. Maybe it was because it didn't attach him to any specific place, or because he could just forget about life up here among the clouds, or maybe something else that he did not know of, either way he was happy.

It was starting to get dark when he decided to head back home expecting his parents to be worried about him for being gone so long. When he got close enough to see his home his face fell. A thick cloud of smoke surrounded the house, through the few visible windows Dominic spotted a flame consuming the inside. Quickly he flew down towards the house, coughing as he breathed in the thick air. Landing before the front door he noticed a crudely drawn image that might have been a snake and a skull with a large X going through it. Not knowing what this meant, and not caring, he dropped his broom and kicked the already wreaked door open and ran inside.

Flames surrounded everything. He mentally cursed himself for having left his wand in his room. Moving into the house more he noticed a small opening in the flames and quickly ran for it only singing his clothing a bit but being able to pat it out as he ran for the stairs, if only he could get to his wand he would be fine

He finally made it to the second floor around where his room was with only slight burns, but the air was getting worse. Reaching his door Dominic attempted to open it, but the metal of the doorknob burned his skin. As the fire moved closer to him he stripped off his shirt and wrapped it around his hand and opened the door. He scanned the room for his wand and spotted it on his desk. Making his way over proved difficult but he managed to reach it with only slight burns. 'Aguamenti' He shouted and a jet of water came rushing from the end of his wand. Hurriedly he doused himself in water then made his way out of the room and through the halls yelling 'Aguamenti' every time he came to an area blocked off by the fire. He made his way through the house searching for his parents, and finally found his mother, unfortunately it wasn't how he wanted to. Through the blazing fire he saw a body sprawled out on the ground and when he put it out he found her lifeless form on the ground he attempted to drag her out of the room but it was then that the roof decided to start caving in. The door was blocked, with the exception of a small area that he, by himself, would be able to fit. Looking back at his dead and burned mother he muttered a sorry under his breath and ran for the exit alone.

He continued on his way and once again found a burned body on the ground, realizing that there wasn't a chance of getting their bodies out he cleared his own way out and back to the front door. He had truly hoped that his parents would have gotten out when he first saw the fire, but as it seemed they must not have had their wands with them when the fire got them otherwise they would have been fine. He grabbed his broom and took off back into the air, a group of people seemed to be rushing to the house from down the long road, tears fell from Dominic's eyes as he thought _'Where the hell were they when the fire started, surely someone must have seen it.'_

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When Severus arrived Dominic flew down from his place in the sky and waited for arrangements to be made to move all of his things, that hadn't been to damaged by the fire, to his godfather's place on Spinner's End. He didn't really know how he felt about having to go live with the man as they barely knew each other, not to mention the last time he was there he got in a lot of trouble. 'Come here.' Came the emotionless voice of Severus. He looked at the boy with a slight questioning gaze. The appearance looked similar to that of someone he once knew, though he couldn't put a name or place to it. 'Don't let go.' He said as he offered his arm to Dominic who held on tightly, and they were gone.

His godfather had to steady him when the stopped in the middle of Spinner's End. In his life Dominic had only apparated twice before and he hated the experience. They walked wordlessly down the street to the house in which was going to be Dominic's new home. A feeling of dread washed over him. This would be, including the orphanage, his fifth home, even though he couldn't recall his first home with his real parents. Why was it that he never seemed to be able to hold onto a home without something horrible happening, not that he liked being at the Dursley's, but being abandoned by them still had hurt.

When they entered and he headed to the door he remembered leading into the basement where he and Draco had spent a week during the summer so many years ago. It was still the same with the exception of the extra bed. Severus came down after him. 'Don't get to comfortable, you will not be here for long.' Dominic looked questionably at the man. 'As you are well aware I am a professor at Hogwarts and because of this I spend only two months out of the year here, you will do the same. In September you will be attending the school, and hopefully you are up to the same level as others in your year.' Severus returned upstairs leaving Dominic on his own.

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As always please Review it keeps me motivated


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry I haven't updated in a while I have had other things keeping me occupied. Please Review if you enjoy the story, or even if you think I should be doing better. All criticisms welcome.

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CHAPTER FIVE

Dominic's birthday had come and gone with very little recognition of the date. Now half-way through August he found himself wandering the streets of Diagonally in search of the supplies he'd need once at Hogwarts. He also had all of his inheritance from the Yorsons placed into his own account, which he had long ago changed form 'Harry Potter' to 'Dominic Gaunt'.

His godfather had simply let him go alone as he had other things to do. It was around lunch time when he had collected most of what he would need, aside from is Hogwarts robes, and decided that something quick to eat would be a good idea so he headed over to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Sitting down at one of the many small tables outside once he had obtained his ice cream Dominic took out one of his text books to flip through. It was his potions book and he grinned as he flipped through. Since his adoptive father had worked a lot with potions Dominic had already learned the majority of what was listed. Pleased to know that there would be at least one class that he didn't need to worry about being behind in he put the potions text back and pulled out his others. Scanning through each of them he realized that he must have been taught more then what was necessary for his age as many things, though not all, he knew. Satisfied he finished his ice cream and headed towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

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He returned home late that night as Severus didn't arrive at the Leaky Cauldron, where he was meant to meet up with his godson, till about ten that night. It had been strange sitting there in the dreary place. It had brought back memories and vaguely he wondered if the boy he had meet here eight years prior was still going to Hogwarts. He pushed the though aside when Severus had entered. Now he lay on his bed looking up at the stone ceiling unable to sleep. He had been having difficulty sleeping as his dreams where plagued with strange places and people he had never meet before, one of which was a woman with long dark red hair and emerald eyes. In his dreams she was always in pain or dying, and Dominic was getting annoyed by these nightly scenes. After a few more hours passed of him just laying awake Dominic rose from his bed and reached for his texts. It always seemed to help him sleep to read at night and as the textbooks were all he had for the time being to read they would have to do.

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A week before the first day of school Dominic and Severus, or Professor Snape as he has reminded Dominic to address him from now on, had apparated into Hogsmeade, a village not far from Hogwarts. Snape headed off as soon as they arrived along a long path with Dominic following closely behind, dragging his trunk behind him. He had told Dominic earlier that day to pack his things as they would have to leave early for Hogwarts since there where things that he needed to prepare before the school year began.

They soon found themselves in front of a large gate. Snape took out his wand and within seconds the gates opened and they entered into the grounds. Silently Dominic followed Snape into the castle where they were greeted by an old man with a long white beard, dressed in shimmering purple robes with a pair of half moon spectacles perched on his nose. 'Welcome.' He said addressing Dominic directly. 'I am Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Snape mentioned that he would be bringing someone along with him.' Dumbledore turned to address Snape. 'Don't worry I will take care of him from here.' Snape nodded took one last look at Dominic then headed off. 'Well then why don't you introduce yourself.'

Dominic felt a lump in his stomach as he looked the tall man's eyes. 'Dominic. Dominic Gaunt, Sir.' He straightened up when he said this and noticed a flash of something in the older man's eyes.

'Gaunt you say. Interesting, I was under the assumption that there were no longer any Gaunts left.' The lump in Dominic's stomach seemed to increase in size. 'Well anyway, why don't we find you your dorm so that you can put your things away. Normally this would be done on the first day back, but as you are a week early having no where else to stay as Professor Snape had to come in early, I am sure we can make an exception with you.'

Dominic followed Dumbledore up to his office and was motioned to sit on a chair opposite the headmaster's own at his desk. Dumbledore then picked up a ratty old looking hat from one of the many small tables that cluttered the room. 'This in the schools sorting hat. Here at Hogwarts we have four houses into which the students are split into based upon what is in their minds. As I have said this would have been done at a later time but we need to know which house you are in so that you have a place to stay till school begins.' Dominic just nodded in understanding and let the headmaster place the hat on his head.

'An unusual time for a sorting.' The hat said then seemed to concentrate on its task at hand. 'Well, well, well, I must say I am surprised to see you here so late, doesn't matter I suppose, lets see where to place you. Your mind is a very complicated one, you would do well in a few of the different houses, but which one will suit you best.' Dominic just sat there waiting for the hat to make up its mind as he looked at Professor Dumbledore. The man's shinning blue eyes staring at him made him feel uncomfortable, as if the man was trying to look straight into his very being.

'Your courage and bravery would do you well in Gryffindor, and your search for knowledge suits well with Ravenclaw, but here I also so see a potential for greatness, though I wonder what kind of greatness I suppose is the real question here.' The hat became silent for a moment as it peered deeper into Dominic's mind. 'I see you hope for Slytherin, well that make this decision easy.' The hat became quite the out loud for Professor Dumbledore to hear it shouted out Slytherin even though there was only the two of them there.

Dumbledore nodded and took the old hat placing it back on the table where it was when they came in. 'The Slytherin dorms are in the dungeon, your things should already be there and I shall show you the way now.' He walked over to the door and motioned Dominic to follow, the two walked down to the dungeon in silence until they got to the hidden entrance. 'Beyond this wall is the Slytherin Common room, only those with the password will be able to get in so I advise you not to tell anyone who isn't from your own house. Baron.' The wall shifted revealing an archway leading into the Common room. 'The password changes every two months, make sure you remember that. Also the password here will change on the first of September when the rest of the students arrive.' Dumbledore left so Dominic entered the room and began searching for his things.

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